Doctor says 'octomom' Nadya Suleman ignored his advice

The fertility doctor for "Octomom" Nadya Suleman testified Thursday that she disappeared after he implanted her with 12 embryos and he didn't hear from her again until after her octuplets were born.

Reed Saxon, The Associated PressFertility specialist Dr. Michael Kamrava, right, and his attorney Henry R. Fenton prepare for a hearing before the California Board of Medical Examiners on possible suspension or revocation of Kamrava's medical license, in Los Angeles.

Suleman was adamant about using all 12 embryos during her last appointment in July 2009, Dr. Michael Kamrava said at his state medical licensing hearing in Los Angeles. Kamrava said he suggested only implanting four embryos but obeyed her wishes.

"She just wouldn't accept doing anything else with those embryos. She did not want them frozen, she did not want them transferred to another patient in the future," the doctor said.

Kamrava implanted a dozen embryos — six times the norm for a woman her age — and didn't hear from Suleman again until after she delivered octuplets in January 2009, according to his testimony.

As months passed from their last meeting, "I was all along apprehensive" because "I couldn't get in touch with her. Every time we called, just an answering machine, leave a message. We couldn't get any calls back," Kamrava said.

The octuplets — whose birth weights ranged from 1 pound, 8 ounces to 3 pounds, 4 ounces — spent their first weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center. Media swarmed the facility for a glimpse of her babies, which were hailed as a medical miracle and are now the world's longest-surviving set of octuplets.

Kamrava said Suleman called him from the hospital, saying reporters were outside her door and asked for advice on what to tell media.

"Well, I was shocked to hear that news in first place," Kamrava said. He said he told her to tell the truth.

Suleman, who has six other children, has said Kamrava implanted her with six embryos for each of her six pregnancies and two of them split when she had octuplets.

The state licensing agency alleges that Kamrava was negligent in the treatment of Suleman and two other patients, and is seeking to revoke or suspend his license.